He has a few videos including an exceptional one on installing a package... I also ended up buying some gear from him he ended up being very helpful and knowledgeable about the topic o beekeeping and saving me a bunch of money.

I'm anxious about my very first install and have read and heard about a couple of methods. Boardman feeders and forget the empty deep on top.

As the time draws near, I'm all for simple. I think I like the quick and easy method of a couple sticks and an empty paint can inverted over the inner cover. Simple is good. Bees don't care, they want their food is all.

If the automobile had followed the same development cycle as the computer, a Rolls-Royce would today cost $100, get a million miles per gallon, and explode once a year, killing everyone inside. - Robert X. Cringely

Yea im gettin ready to install my first package in about 20 days or less and i watched some videos on it and i didnt understand why u would wanna bang them around. I know why they did but to me that just didnt look good on the bee's so i was goin to come up with a more conventional way to get them out so i dont hurt them or anything else. I like your idea Robo on opening the side i think im gonna try that one it seems alot more gentle on them. :-D :mrgreen:

Yea that Video was really educational but he still banged them bee's around alot.

I started removing the stapled side panels holding in the screen many years ago, and indeed for anyone installing their first package I promise you will cause a lot less trama to your bees and to yourself.

I really can't wait to get restarted this season - I now have a $300 gift certificate to shop for new hive parts with, I only need get bees (I'm shopping today) and I want to create my own videos all Summer long.

I'm a toy guy, I admit it - but the new digital camcorder really is a wonderful toy. The compressed videos you see on the net are an injustice to the hi-def quality these cameras take. My camcorder has 3 CCD devces for a vivid color range and low light conditions, incredible macro settings and a builtin 3.4megapixel camera for the better stills. I know in a land where 8megapixels rule, 3.4 sounds wimpy, but I say it is all in the hands of the photographer, a bad picture - no matter how many pixels, is still a bad picture, only larger - lol.

So please try the roll-out method of removing your bees from the package, it only takes 10 seconds to remove the staples and the bees ALL come out in a single pour, which beats bouncing them around the cage doing all kinds of damage to them and upsetting what could be a remarkable experience for the first timer :)

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I can see a deposit on a NUC but never heard of one on a cage before? I was wondering about that myself.

And honestly, you aren't destroying anything my way, the staples on the side are usually very long and can be tapped right back in place. Worse case, a drop or twp of glue on the side strips would stop them from ever coming apart.

I made a few temporary observation hives from packages before, good enough to keep a small colony alive quite a while while photographing them.

Please enjoy the forum, and if it has helped you in any way, we hope that a small donation can be made to support our FULLY member supported forum. You will never see advertisements here, and that is because of the generous members who have made our forum possible. We are in our second decade as a beekeeping forum and all thanks to member support. At the top right of every page is a donations link. Please help if you can.

Cage deposit? :-\ Who's doing that? I get my bees from Kelly's - never had to do a deposit. How much are they charging?

Yeah, Trees 'n Bees in Auburn, WA charges a $5 deposit for the cage. Costs more in gas to get back there to return it. lolThey are having a seminar in May that i'm gunna attend, I'll turn it in then. Deposit or not, I'm just happy to be getting bees and not having to mail order them. Can't wait, only 7 more days!!!

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"My son, eat thou honey, because it is good; and the honeycomb, which is sweet to thy taste" - Proverbs 24:13

It ceases to amaze me the amount of time and grief it takes to remove the feeder can from any package. I have seen countless videos, demonstrations and my own experience in installing packages and this is my only complaint in Beekeeping. :roll:

Man, I'm gunna do it. Who cares about the darn deposit. I just watched a video of an install and the dude shook the package like a hundred times trying to get the girls out. Taking the side off the package looked much easier from the pics on Beemaster's page.

Sean

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"My son, eat thou honey, because it is good; and the honeycomb, which is sweet to thy taste" - Proverbs 24:13